Can a Cooling Helmet Minimize Damage Due to Brain Injury?

The serious nature of brain injuries makes it something that many people are interested in developing effective treatments for. The approaches taken vary. A study focusing on the use of cooling to reduce the severity of such an injury is in the works by researchers at a facility that focuses on sports-related traumatic brain injuries.

The upcoming study seeks to focus on three different groups of 21 adults. The groups will be broken down as follows:

Healthy student athletes who are at risk of suffering a concussion.

Concussed athletes in acute phase of injury.

Athletes with obvious concussive symptoms in chronic phase of injury.

The study wants to determine, what, if any, effect the cooling of the scalp and back of the neck has on the balance, neurocognitive and executive functions of each person. Any changes recorded will be captured via electroencephalography and MRI.

This is not the first time temperature has been examined in conjunction with brain injuries. There is a 50 year history of such studies. In this study, cooling will be accomplished using a cooling helmet. If the results are positive it is possible that the device could be used in a variety of situations to help minimize the damage done to an injured person’s brain.

Not all traumatic brain injuries are suffered in a sports setting. In fact, people suffer brain injuries as a result of a variety of activities including falls and car accidents. When the negligence of another person contributes to a brain injury the person who was hurt might decide to file a personal injury lawsuit against that party. When successful, he or she may receive damages.